1
2
3
emancipation.jpg
The 13th Amendment was proposed on January 31st, 1865 and was passed on December 6th, 1865. The 13th Amendment in addition to the 14th and 15th Amendments is categorized as one of the 3 Constitutional Amendments regarded as Reconstruction Amendments; these Amendments took place within 5 years following the Civil War.
The 13 Amendment declares slavery as illegal; in addition, forced servitude is also deemed to be illegal – this Amendment is regarded as the finalization of the abolishment of slavery. The 13th Amendment illustrates the distinction(s) between servitude, slavery, and consensual labor; forced labor is any type of labor that takes place through the implementation of threat(s), physically restraint of an individual with regard to the proliferation of labor, exploitative or blackmail –based activity in order to continue labor. In 1863 President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring “all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” However, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation. Lincoln recognized that the Emancipation Proclamation would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment in order to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.
1218-13th-amendment-1865.jpg
The 13th amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War before the Southern states had been restored to the Union and should have easily passed the Congress. Although the Senate passed it in April 1864, the House did not. At that point, Lincoln took an active role to ensure passage through congress. He insisted that passage of the 13th amendment be added to the Republican Party platform for the upcoming Presidential elections. His efforts met with success when the House passed the bill in January 1865 with a vote of 119–56. With the adoption of the 13th amendment, the United States found a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery. The 13th amendment, along with the 14th and 15th, is one of the trio of Civil War amendments that greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans.





14 Amendment
1
2


14th.jpg
The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution was passed by both houses on 8th June and the 13th June, 1866. The amendment was designed to grant citizenship to and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. It did this by prohibiting states from denying or abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, depriving any person of his life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denying to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Four principles were asserted in the text of the 14th amendment. They were:
  1. State and federal ciizenship for all persons regardless of race both born or naturalized in the United States was reaffirmed.
  2. No state would be allowed to abridge the "privileges and immunities" of citizens.
  3. No person was allowed to be deprived of life, liberty,or property without "due process of law."
  4. No person could be denied "equal protection of the laws.





14th2.jpg3 The fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States was proposed to the legislatures of the several States by the Thirty-ninth Congress, on June 13, 1866. It was declared, in a certificate of the Secretary of State dated July 28, 1868 to have been ratified by the legislatures of 28 of the 37 States. The dates of ratification were: Connecticut, June 25, 1866 New Hampshire, July 6, 1866 Tennessee, July 19, 1866 New Jersey, September 11, 1866 (subsequently the legislature rescinded its ratification, and on March 24, 1868, readopted its resolution of rescission over the Governor's veto, and on Nov. 12, 1980, expressed support for the amendment); Oregon, September 19, 1866 (and rescinded its ratification on October 15, 1868) Vermont, October 30, 1866 Ohio, January 4, 1867 (and rescinded its ratification on January 15, 1868) New York, January 10, 1867 Kansas, January 11, 1867 Illinois, January 15, 1867 West Virginia, January 16, 1867 Michigan, January 16, 1867 Minnesota, January 16, 1867 Maine, January 19, 1867 Nevada, January 22, 1867 Indiana, January 23, 1867 Missouri, January 25, 1867 Rhode Island, February 7, 1867 Wisconsin, February 7, 1867 Pennsylvania, February 12, 1867 Massachusetts, March 20, 1867 Nebraska, June 15, 1867 Iowa, March 16, 1868 Arkansas, April 6, 1868 Florida, June 9, 1868 North Carolina, July 4, 1868 (after having rejected it on December 14, 1866) Louisiana, July 9, 1868 (after having rejected it on February 6, 1867) South Carolina, July 9, 1868 (after having rejected it on December 20, 1866)
Ratification was completed on July 9, 1868.
The amendment was subsequently ratified by: Alabama, July 13, 1868 Georgia, July 21, 1868 (after having rejected it on November 9, 1866) Virginia, October 8, 1869 (after having rejected it on January 9, 1867) Mississippi, January 17, 1870 Texas, February 18, 1870 (after having rejected it on October 27, 1866) Delaware, February 12, 1901 (after having rejected it on February 8, 1867) Maryland, April 4, 1959 (after having rejected it on March 23, 1867) California, May 6, 1959 Kentucky, March 18, 1976 (after having rejected it on January 8, 1867)